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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28279857">she's playing games now</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/insteadofjust_invisible/pseuds/insteadofjust_invisible'>insteadofjust_invisible</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Julie and The Phantoms (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>A ridiculous amount of fluff, F/M, Fluff, Song writing as a love language, everyone just wants juke to get together, including juke themselves, we say we are friends we play pretend</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 22:40:25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,585</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28279857</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/insteadofjust_invisible/pseuds/insteadofjust_invisible</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A look into Julie and Luke's relationship after the Orpheum through the eyes of everyone around them - including Flynn and Reggie scheming, Julie having a plan of her own, Alex observing from the sidelines, and Luke being completely oblivious (or so everyone thinks).</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Julie Molina/Luke Patterson</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>64</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>she's playing games now</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Written for the <a href="https://jatpdaily.tumblr.com/">JATP Daily Secret Santa</a> on tumblr. Go check out all the other incredible works for this initiative there!</p><p>To <a href="https://finally-free-phantoms.tumblr.com/">Sara</a>, this is a mess, I'm sorry lol this is not exactly what you asked for but, BUT I hope you will still enjoy it - there's platonic touches, "platonic" touches lol, a whole lot of Juke and different dynamics between the ghosts, Julie, Flynn and the rest of the Molinas. Happy holidays!!! &lt;3</p><p>Title from I Must Be Dreaming by The Maine. That's also the song Luke wrote Julie :) (Saraa, I tried to use one your top 5 songs from spotify wrapped for this, but they didn't fit :(( the idea for this one came from the "songs that sunset curve..." playlist you made though, so there's that!)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Julie wholeheartedly agreed with Alex - being a ghost should come with an instruction manual.</p><p> </p><p>See, at the beginning, it was easy, or as easy as it could be. The guys were ghosts, she was the only person who could see them, unless they were playing as a band, when everyone could see them and they could play some incredible stage tricks with her being able to walk through them and them poofing in and out of the stage. Easy busy.</p><p> </p><p>Then… then they had to become corporeal. It was not that Julie was complaining, really. This ghost level up, as Reggie liked to call it, came with its perks, of course, but it also made things so much more complicated - what were the rules behind who could and could not see ghosts? What about the whole corporeality thing? Could they control it? Would more people be able to feel them with time, like it had been with Julie, or not? Was time the secret, or something else?</p><p> </p><p>Not to mention the whole no cool phasing through during performances. The first band rehearsal after the Orpheum was a mess, to be honest, with trips and stumbles and oh so many close calls, not to mention a full-on encounter with Luke when she had tried to walk through him after they shared the mic in Bright.</p><p> </p><p>Luke, who, by the way, was probably the most compelling reason as to why Julie wanted said instructions manual. If you asked her, she would tell you that ghosts shouldn’t have muscles sculpted from marble and perfect smiles and puppy like eyes. They should look like Casper, your friendly neighborhood ghost. The thing was, while her boys could arguably fit the description of your friendly neighborhood ghost, they definitely did not fit the looks of Casper. Especially Luke, with his fixation for sleeveless shirts that made it impossible for her not to get distracted by his arms, and his perfect smile and puppy like eyes.</p><p> </p><p>The worst part was, as much as she hated it, was that she could not stay away from him (and his stupid muscles and his perfect smile and puppy like eyes). She had tried to be subtle about it, she really did - she asked him to teach her to play the guitar and Luke, bless him, fell for it no questions asked. Alex and Reggie, on the other side, saw right through it. Maybe it was because she was more casual about her touches with them, less serious about them too, or maybe it was because Flynn was right and there was no hiding their lovey dopey eyes, as she so nicely called it. No big deal, right?</p><p> </p><p>Wrong.</p><p> </p><p>The lessons started harmless enough. Julie and Luke would hang around after practice, her sitting on the couch and him on a chair in front of it, or vice-versa, him teaching her the chords and simple chord progressions. Sure, she would sometimes get lost staring at him as he showed her a movement, but he was none the wiser. She took on the chords and the progressions easily, knocked them out of the park like the wrecking ball of talent she was, in Luke’s words.</p><p> </p><p>That was when Reggie saw right through her, actually. Sure, he had seen right through her excuse from the get-go, but one afternoon he walked back into the studio to grab something and caught Julie nibly imitating Luke. He did a trouble take and then - oh. He smirked at her, brows wiggling in that annoying way he did whenever he was sharing a secret or an inside joke with you. Julie was glad that Luke had his back to Reggie, because he was not subtle at all. Thankfully, he didn’t linger long. Unfortunately, Reggie was the only thing that didn’t linger long.</p><p>
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</p><p> </p><p>Reggie was probably the most supportive person when it came to Julie and Luke’s relationship - not that there was any! They were just friends, as they liked to remind everyone. He didn’t understand it, truly. At first, sure, he could see it, with them being ghosts, barely capable of holding a glass of water. Now, however, it baffled him. They oozed chemistry on and off stage, they genuinely enjoyed each other’s company, they connected on so many levels other than music… They had the perfect chords to play a love song and lose themselves in the ballad of it.</p><p> </p><p>Alex had warned him to let them be, to let it play out naturally. And Reggie had tried, he had tried so much, but then Julie started being so obvious about her crush on Luke that it became impossible - there was a reason his friends called him a literal gold retriever. He had the self-control of one! It became so obvious that even Alex couldn’t deny it, giving him free reign to pester Luke all he wanted about it. Subtly, of course. Julie might not know how to, but he knew.</p><p> </p><p>In the beginning, Julie wasn’t as obvious. In the immediate aftermath of the Orpheum, all of them were basking in their newfound abilities to feel her - it was always her hugging them for a greeting, grazing a hand on their elbows or wrists when talking, leaning against them when she felt tired after practice. It was always them offering her a hand up from the couch, helping her braid her hair when she was in a hurry for school, offering her high fives after a particularly killer note. </p><p> </p><p>A lot of those things continued, really. But then… then Julie would be getting closer and closer to Luke whenever they shared a mic (which everyone had thought was impossible, actually, but they somehow managed). Or she would almost exclusively find comfort in Luke when she felt tired. From that, it moved to them sitting next to each other instead of in front of each other when writing new songs, to Reggie caughting them clearly having a moment outside of the studio one night, Luke gently cupping her face when telling her she had rocked it at practice that day (she had. They had all said so afterward, but neither Alex nor Reggie had cupped her face to do so, because <em> “it is not platonic to do that, Luke!” </em>), and to Reggie catching Julie clearly cheating during guitar lessons, unless…</p><p> </p><p>Unless she already knew how to play the guitar.</p><p> </p><p>Him and Alex had found Julie’s sudden interest in playing the guitar funny. She had never demonstrated interest in it, and seemed perfectly happy with her piano, but they were musicians at heart, so they played it off as her wanting to dabble in more instruments - her request did come right after she learned they all dabbled in each other’s instruments after all. Except, well, maybe it was less of that and more of Julie just wanting to spend more time with Luke.</p><p> </p><p>Reggie had been ecstatic about that new development. The jabs and dabs he had been giving Luke multiplied tenfold, much to Alex’s annoyance (like he hadn’t told him “<em> go for it, Reggie! Maybe that way Luke will get his head out of his ass” </em>), while the guitarist in question simply rolled his eyes at Reggie, who kept at it, dropping innuendos here and there that, at that point, just about fit the definition of subtle, mostly because they were so far off the hook that you couldn’t understand them from the get go. The longer that went, the worse they became, and Alex’s gut reaction was always to facepalm, shake his head and mutter a defeated okay, meaning that Luke learned how to read that and hurry to change the subject. Alex and Reggie would share a knowing look and let go - for five minutes, until Reggie striked again. He really couldn’t control it!</p><p> </p><p>Flynn caught into it easily enough, joining him on her end, annoying Julie like there was no tomorrow. She would occasionally remind her that Luke was a ghost, six-feet-under kind of ghost, but it had gotten to where it sounded more like a joke than an actual warning, Alex finding it incredibly entertaining and occasionally joking about it himself. Thanks to Flynn, Reggie gained allies and the best source of mockery material he could have dreamed of.</p><p> </p><p>There was a day, actually, midmorning after a sleepover, when the girls came into the kitchen where he was hanging out with Ray, that he learned he was right - Julie did know how to play the guitar. Julie, who turned beet red in a second, staggering over her own words, asking him not to rat her out.</p><p> </p><p>“I will watch all the Star Wars movies with you in chronological order, Reggie, I swear,” she promised the second Ray left the room to answer a call.</p><p> </p><p>“Sweet!” he exclaimed, air high fiving Flynn who, while had come to be able to see them, still couldn’t feel them, “I wasn’t planning on telling anyways.”</p><p> </p><p>Julie groaned them, hiding her face in her arms, causing Reggie and Flynn to laugh, right when Alex poofed in, smiling after having caught the tail end of the conversation.</p><p> </p><p>“He is having a field day with this,” he mentioned, leaving a kiss on top of Julie’s head as a greeting.</p><p> </p><p>“You knew?!” she asked, whipping her head up so fast Reggie was surprised it didn’t cause a whiplash. Her eyes were bulged out, throwing everyone into another round of laughter.</p><p> </p><p>“Sweetie… Everyone and their dog knows,” Flynn said, patting her curls down. Everyone and their dog, cat, goldfish knew, including Tía Victoria and her cats, Margarida and Donald. Alex knew that for a fact. </p><p>
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</p><p> </p><p>While Reggie liked to hang out with Ray, Alex had come to enjoy hanging out with Julie’s aunt. Tía Victoria was a phenomenal woman, extremely kind but who put up with no shit. She lived not far from the Molinas, in a small but comfy house with her two cats and a vast array of plants. She spent most of her nights sipping on wine and watching The Real Housewives, which was probably half of the reason why Alex spent so much time with her, the other half being the woman herself, of course.</p><p> </p><p>He knew she knew from a conversation he caught the other day, following a gig they had had at a restaurant one of Ray’s friends owned. It was out of pure luck that he caught that conversation, having poofed into Tía’s house to see if Carlos had forgotten his earphones there (he had. Ever since he learned the guys would always go check for him, it seemed he was forgetting them everywhere), but boy wasn’t he glad he did. Not that it really mattered, it was not like a conversation between Tía and Ray would make Julie and Luke get together, but still, it felt important that Julie’s family also saw it and supported it (he hoped they supported it - thank God they did not know about the whole ghost thing or else they definitely would not agree with it).</p><p> </p><p>“So, Ray, you didn’t tell me Julie and the guitarist from her band are dating,” Tía started, changing the channels on the TV until she landed on Bravo. Margarida, the orange tabby cat, jumped onto the couch next to her.</p><p> </p><p>Alex couldn’t hear Ray on the other end, but he sure hoped Reggie was hanging out with him to fill in the blanks later. He propped himself up on the kitchen counter behind him, having a clear view of Victoria that way and ready to hear what she was about to say next.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> “Oh, I just thought- The way they look at each other on stage, you know... Yes, of course. Maybe I will have a little girl chat with her next time I’m over... Oh, I know, Ray! Just leave it to me… Yeah, yeah... Good night. Tell Julie she was beautiful up there tonight.... Bye.” </em>
</p><p> </p><p>“They are not dating my ass,” Tía murmured, finishing the call. She took a large sip of her wine, still shaking her head in disbelief. Alex laughed - he couldn’t have said it better. Figuring that was enough, he had gotten what he needed long ago, he poofed out, straight to the Molina’s kitchen to see if he could find Reggie (he did. He had heard everything on his side, much to his delight - and Alex’s, secretly. He was also glad they supported it because, in his words, <em> “we can all be a big family, Alex! </em>”)</p><p>
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</p><p> </p><p>Flynn had been in the front row seat to Julie and Luke’s interesting little relationship from the very beginning, having called it before Julie herself had. It should have come with no surprise, then, when Ray pulled her aside one night after a gig to ask her about them.</p><p> </p><p>“Julie and Luke, right! Yes, they’re… friends. Really good friends, you know, since he brought music back into her life,” she said, mentally facepalming - Julie’s inability to lie was starting to rub off on her.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes, and I’m very grateful for that,” Ray agreed, smiling at her. He pressed his lips together before continuing, “but I was wondering if that’s all?”</p><p> </p><p>Flynn grimaced, thinking back to all the stepping stones that had taken them to where they were…</p><p> </p><p>Luke giving Bright to Julie and helping her get back into the music program. Julie and Luke spending the entire weekend writing songs, including finishing the song Julie had been working on with Rose before. The boys ditching on them at the school dance and Julie learning about Luke and his parents because of that. Julie and Luke bonding over having lost their moms - each on their own way. Their fire on stage during the Finally Free performance at the open mic (and all other songs, really, but the look of utter amazement in Luke’s eyes that night was incomparable). Julie daydreaming about Luke during dance class to the point of writing an entire fucking duet in her head. Luke answering to her singing in Edge of Great with his guitar. The intense eye contact during that same performance. The guys fighting against Caleb’s hold on them to perform at the Orpheum. Julie and Luke completely forgetting the meaning of personal space whatsoever in the aftermath of the Orpheum and sharing “platonic” touches that they didn’t share with Alex, Reggie, or Flynn herself - Luke “platonically” holding Julie’s hand or, hell, cupping her face whenever he had the chance, Julie pretending not to know how to play the guitar to spend more one-on-one time with him (as if she needed to. “<em> Girl, get a grip!” </em> Flynn wanted to scream - and she had. Julie had her eyes AND ears covered)... the list was endless.</p><p> </p><p>Yeah, Flynn had been in the front scene of that entire movie that was Julie and Luke’s relationship and she was ready for the after credits to start rolling.</p><p> </p><p>“Flynn?” Ray asked, shaking her shoulder slightly, “I know Julie has probably sworn you to secrecy, but help me out here, please.”</p><p> </p><p>“Mr. Molina, you know how much I love Julie and I don’t wanna see her hurt again, you have nothing to worry about,” was what she decided on. That was no lie either, just not the exact truth, maybe.</p><p> </p><p>“I will take that as a yes then.”</p><p> </p><p>Flynn raised her shoulders, a ‘you do you’ gesture that thankfully freed her from the interrogation. She couldn’t blame Mr. Molina for asking, but he couldn’t blame her for not answering directly. Giving her one last smile and a shoulder squeeze, Ray let Flynn go, him making his way downstairs and Flynn making her way back up to Julie’s room.</p><p> </p><p>The next morning, Reggie caught them talking about how Julie’s so called plan to get to spend more time with Luke was going, breaking into a crazy grin when he heard Flynn ask her for how long she would keep on pretending. Julie lost all the color in her face, turning to her as subtly as she could without Ray noticing, pinching her tight with force when they sat at the counter. The second Ray left to answer a call, Julie jumped the ship, begging Reggie not to tell.</p><p> </p><p>Flynn and Reggie kept making fun of Julie, Alex joining them for a minute in that, but actually having stopped by to let them know Willie had heard of a possible venue for a gig and that they should go scouting soon. He left soon after, Julie following after him to go change out of her pjs. Flynn waved her off, raising her cup and pretending she was still drinking her coffee. </p><p> </p><p>“I want in,” she told Reggie once she knew Julie was out of earshot.</p><p> </p><p>“Me too,” he replied. What?!? Reggie was staring at her in his earnest, hands folded in front of him and eyes shining.</p><p> </p><p>“I want in whatever plan you have going on to get Julie and Luke together,” Flynn repeated, amused. Understanding drew on Reggie’s face, causing him to nod. </p><p> </p><p>“Aaaah I’m just annoying him into confessing. I thought you were doing the same with Julie.”</p><p> </p><p>“Well, yeah, but that’s part of the job description as her best friend.”</p><p> </p><p>“Ohh, makes sense,” he agreed, pausing for a moment before clapping his hands together and announcing, “we need a plan then!”</p><p> </p><p>“Let me brainstorm some and I’ll get back to you. Definitely something to do with music though,” she said, wheels already in motion on her mind. Reggie air high fived her - again. He loved doing it - moving from where he was leaning against the sink and saying he was going to annoy Luke some more in the meantime. Flynn laughed, getting up herself to do the same.</p><p>
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</p><p> </p><p>“I-” started a voice, mumbled and gruffed, before being cut by a loud yawn, “what?”</p><p> </p><p>It was Reggie, leaning on his arms on the couch, eyes wrinkled and one side of his hair completed flat. He yawned again, causing Luke to grimace and rush to apologize.</p><p> </p><p>“Sorry, man, but I’ve had this melody in my head all night long and I needed to play it out,” he said, stopping for a minute to scribble down some notes before playing the chords he had just written. Mere seconds into it, however, when Reggie was starting to mutter a ‘it’s ok’, a pillow hit Luke square in the chest, causing him to stop again.</p><p> </p><p>“It is not fucking ok, Reggie. What time is it?”</p><p> </p><p>“Sevenish,” Luke replied, not even bothering to look at the watch. He did glace up to Alex in the loft, smiling bright, “rise and shine Sleeping Beauty!”</p><p> </p><p>“Fuck you,” the blond said, throwing another pillow at Luke, but this time he had been waiting for it, so the pillow missed him entirely. Alex groaned, gave him the finger, and turned his back on them to try and go back to sleep.</p><p> </p><p>“Did you get any sleep, dude?” Reggie asked, shaking his head at their drummer as he fully sat up on the couch. Luke moved to sit next to him, still holding on to his guitar.</p><p> </p><p>“Nah, I was writing. Here, look at this,” he explained, grabbing his songs notebook from the amp next to his guitar and passing it to the bassist, “I was thinking about teaching it to Julie too, I don’t think the chords are too complicated for her.”</p><p> </p><p>“Right, not too complicated,” Reggie muttered, rolling his eyes as he continued to read through the lyrics. Luke was right, the chords were fairly simple, but the lyrics themselves… Well. “But, uh, don’t you think Julie will know the second she hears this? Unless that’s what you were going for, then I’m all for it, you know it!”</p><p> </p><p>“What d’you mean?” </p><p> </p><p>“Well, aren’t these about Julie?”</p><p> </p><p>“Wait, Luke finally wrote a song about Julie?” Alex exclaimed, more awake than minutes before. Luke sneered at his excitement, muttering about how the song was not about Julie, they were bunkers to think so.</p><p> </p><p>“YES!” Reggie shouted, ignoring Luke completely, “come take a look, Alex. It is so obvious.”</p><p> </p><p>Alex was next to them in seconds, hair completely disheveled and still halfway through putting on his sweatshirt. He took one look at the song in Reggie’s hands before he burst out laughing, looking over at his friend and raising his eyebrows. </p><p> </p><p>“You know what’s even more obvious, Reg?”</p><p> </p><p>That sent Reggie into a laughter fit with Alex, while Luke sat there dumbfounded - what the fuck where they going on about and what was even more obvious than his song? What was there to be more obvious about?? Some friends the guys were…</p><p> </p><p>“Whatever,” he huffed, pushing his song notebook shut on Reggie’s hands, missing it when the bassist set it down next to Julie’s guitar instead of his, “you guys should get going, Julie is going to be here soon.”</p><p> </p><p>“It’s freaking 7am on a weekend, Patterson. Julie’s not gonna wake up for a few hours at least,” Alex said, but pulled at Reggie’s flannel all the same, poofing both of them out of the studio. Luke fell against the couch, inhaling and exhaling deeply. He hadn’t meant to write the song about Julie - it was just a ballad, a missing sound in their repertoire. But he should have expected it to come off as if it was about Julie, considering their ‘interesting little relationship’ and everything that came with it. </p><p> </p><p>He liked Julie. They all liked Julie, but, you know, he liked <em> liked </em> Julie, even though that made him sound like an annoying sixth grader. He grimaced at the thought, mindlessly starting to play at the strings of his guitar. Their relationship had been at an impasse ever since that day on her porch, Julie and him knowing that there was something there, knowing that they both knew the other knew, yet… Yet, he was still a ghost and she was still alive.</p><p> </p><p>Granted, he felt more alive with each passing day - Flynn and Carlos could see them, hell, they thought Carrie could see them. Julie could feel them and they could feel Julie. Their current running theory was “<em> just like in Peter Pan! </em>” (Julie’s words, not his), meaning you had to believe to be able to interact with them. The stronger your belief, the stronger your interaction.</p><p> </p><p>Julie believed in them like no one else. </p><p> </p><p>Luke believed in Julie like no one else - for him, Julie was the sun, shining bright and oh so very alive, bringing light and warmth into his afterlife. Without her, he was just air, dark and invisible and cold.</p><p> </p><p>Kicking at the coffee table leg, Luke set his guitar aside, covering his face with his hands for a moment. This was why he didn’t put much thought into his and Julie’s (interesting little) relationship - it always ended up in despair.</p><p> </p><p>(at least despair and heartbreak made for good songwriting).</p><p>
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</p><p> </p><p>“You must be a real good teacher, huh, for my sister to have gotten this good this fast.”</p><p> </p><p>Luke spinned around from where he was standing, staring at the fridge to come face to face with Carlos, who was standing behind him with a smug look, his fingers tapping against his upper arm where they sat crossed.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, she is getting the hang of it,” he agreed, finally grabbing a few cans of sodas to bring back with him to the studio. Reggie and Alex had gone scouting the place Willie had heard of, but Luke stayed behind, planning for him and Julie to spend the afternoon alone, with guitar lessons and song writings sessions. Whenever they did that, Julie would always whine about having to go aaall the way back to the house for snacks - not that Luke wouldn’t always poof there and back for her - but this time he was going to be prepared and surprise her, which sounded even better.</p><p> </p><p>“Getting the hang of it…” Carlos mused, chuckling at himself, “Reggie was right.”</p><p> </p><p>“What was Reggie right about, little dude?”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, nothing. Have a nice day, Luke!”</p><p> </p><p>With that, Carlos turned and started walking towards the stairs, a bounce on his steps and muttered words under his breath that Luke couldn’t exactly make out, but that sounded a lot like Reggie’s usual comments about his and Julie’s relationship and something about... limbos? Himbos? Whatever.</p><p> </p><p>“You too…” he replied a second too late, more confused than most his other conversations with Carlos would leave him, which said a lot about how confused he was. “OH! Is Julie awake yet?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yep, she’s in the studio!” Carlos screamed back, already halfway up to the second floor.</p><p> </p><p>“Rad. Thank you, Carlos!”</p><p>
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</p><p> </p><p>Julie did not expect Luke to come by the studio - when Alex had poofed into his room, Reggie in tow, to let her know they were finally going to check out the venue Willie had found, scout for any upcoming gig opportunities, she thought 'they' meant him, Alex, and Luke, but apparently not. Either way, since the thought hadn’t crossed her mind, she had left the doors half-opened, gone straight to her old acoustic, now propped up right next to Luke’s, and immersed herself in the music. </p><p> </p><p>Her mind wandered to her guitar lessons - it baffled her Luke hadn’t caught her in her lie like Reggie and Alex had. She was definitely playing better than anyone else in her shoes would, especially when you took into consideration the fact that half of the classes turned into songwriting sessions and the other half into them just hanging out, talking, Luke catching up on all the popular media he had missed on, him introducing Julie to some bands he used to hear in the 80s that she had never heard of.</p><p> </p><p>For all intents and purposes, the classes were serving her right - Julie was spending more time with Luke. The only downside of her plan, one she should have foreseen, was that with each class and with each new song and with each new conversation they shared, the lines of their relationship blurred more and more. ‘Interesting little relationship’ was probably overrated at that point - there was nothing little about their relationship, and interesting barely began to cover it.</p><p> </p><p>That thought caused her to stop, the sound of the guitar stringing along for a second too long after her fingers stopped. She had acknowledged it - to herself, to Flynn, to Luke. Luke had acknowledged it - to himself, to Julie. But ever since that afternoon when she took Unsaid Emily to his mom, things between them had been… well, on the edge of great, if you might, each pulling and pushing just enough to make it clear what their feelings and wishes were, but not to the point of actually jumping from the edge into whatever awaited them.</p><p> </p><p>Julie could blame Luke just as much as she could blame herself.</p><p> </p><p>In the chaos of her thoughts, her last guitar lesson came to mind. It had been in one of those days when the sun never came up and all the colors felt dull and sad. One of those days when she felt plain and utterly sad, deep in her bones, missing her mom more than she normally did in all of the other days. Julie had taken one step into the studio before Luke noticed it, because of course he did - he always did. Instead of teaching her the song they had planned for that afternoon, they sat side by side on the couch as he played her silly song after silly song, letting her halfheartedly play along, their tempos completely out of sync, their singing completely off-key. He had made her laugh so hard she couldn’t hold herself upright - she had fallen straight into his arms, both of them freezing for a moment before his hands started playing with her hair and she relaxed into him. </p><p> </p><p>Another lesson popped up. Julie had been feeling bold, having killed it at her Calculus test that morning, with the courage to pretend to struggle more than usual with the song she was learning that day. Luke had pulled the exact move she had hoped for - he moved behind her, his arms encircling her body to help her position her fingers in the right spots, his mouth singing the lyrics to the song low on her ear as she played it, just right that time. She had basked on that feeling for longer she would like to admit.</p><p> </p><p>And another - Julie had asked Luke to teach her a song that turned out to be one of his mother’s favorites (“<em> She wasn’t much into music, but she loved this one, Jules, was always humming it when she cooked.” </em>) They ended up spending most of the afternoon exchanging stories about their childhoods, Reggie and Alex joining them, turning it into a group hangout that always turned into a massive cuddle pile in the pull-out couch these days.</p><p> </p><p>Julie’s eyes had fallen shut during her wanderings, and when she opened them back up, a content smile on her face, they were staring straight at Luke’s songs notebook, which was resting next to her guitar holder. She found it weird - Luke usually had it on him or he would leave it on top of his amp. Maybe he had a new song he wanted her to take a look at? Looking around, Julie moved to pick the notebook up, easily opening it to a dog-eared page.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> She thinks I'm crazy </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Judging by the faces that she's making </em>
</p><p>
  <em> And I think she's pretty </em>
</p><p>
  <em> But pretty's just part of the things she does that amaze me </em>
</p><p>
  <em> She calls me sweetheart </em>
</p><p>
  <em> I love it when she wakes me when it's still dark </em>
</p><p>
  <em> And she watches the sun </em>
</p><p>
  <em> But she's the only one I have my eyes on </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Oh.</p><p> </p><p>That was… about her.</p><p> </p><p>That was about her, right?</p><p> </p><p>Eyes bulging out, heart racing on her chest, Julie devoured through the lyrics, over and over again, mind thrilling at the possibility - Luke had written a song about her! She couldn’t help it, she started to play the song.</p><p> </p><p>Lost in her own thoughts and in the music, not paying attention to her surroundings, she did not hear Luke poof in until he was right in front of her, arms full of snacks, mouth agape and an adorable frown on his face.</p><p> </p><p>“That’s my song,” he finally said, eyebrows furrowing even more as he looked back and forth between her face and the guitar.</p><p> </p><p>“Uh… yes,” she confessed, an awkward smile on her face.</p><p> </p><p>“But I- I didn’t teach it to you yet.”</p><p> </p><p>“I know. I just found it when I came in?”</p><p> </p><p>“You- Oh my God, that’s amazing, Jules. You were playing it perfectly!” Luke exclaimed, carelessly dropping the snacks on the floor and using one of his free hands to cup her face. She immediately leaned into it, before coming to her senses and recoiling, scrambling through her brain to find an explanation.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah… See-”</p><p> </p><p>“Wait. You were playing it perfectly.” Julie nodded, and she could see the wheels turning in Luke’s brain as he thought back to all their classes and to Reggie’s comments and Carlos just minutes before... “you knew how to play all along?”</p><p> </p><p>“Maybe?”</p><p> </p><p>“Then why…” he trailed off, looking so adorable in his confusion that Julie didn’t have the heart to try and come up with a lie. She rushed it all out, her words all jumbled together.</p><p> </p><p>“Iwantedtospendmoretimewithyou”</p><p> </p><p>Silence. Julie beat a tempo against the shell of the guitar, one, two, three... She sat it aside for good measure, holding her hands together on her lap to stop them from fidgeting. </p><p> </p><p>“Oh,” Luke beamed at her, his nose scrunching up slightly. She smiled back at him, “how long were you planning on faking it?”</p><p> </p><p>“Not too long,” she swore at him. She paused, her head dropping to the side as she took him in - he already knew this… Throwing all caution to the wind, Julie let another confession slip past her lips, “I wanted to show you this song I wrote soon anyways. It’s a duet and, well, my part is on the piano, but yours would be in the acoustic. I was going to play you both parts.”</p><p> </p><p>“Huh.”</p><p> </p><p>“Sorry?”</p><p> </p><p>“No, it’s, I just,” Luke huffed, one hand coming up to scratch at the back of his neck, “I don’t understand why you didn’t just ask me to hang? You ask the guys all the time.”</p><p> </p><p>“Riiiiiight,” she said, head dropping down slightly in shame, but unable to keep her smile from growing. Luke squinted his eyes at her, his face slowly breaking into another bright smile.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh,” he repeated, his eyes unervering on her. Julie didn’t break from his stare, instead she laughed, short-lived, soon starting to bite on her lips as their staring game continued, her waiting for his full reaction, him… Hell if she knew what was going through his mind. Julie’s fingers were squeaking on her sides like they wanted to reach out to him.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, come here, Jules,” he finally said, pulling her into him and hugging her tight. Luke pressed his head into her hair, senses filled with the coconut and flowery scent of her shampoo. They stayed there, in each other’s arms, for far too long, too comfortable to let go.</p><p> </p><p>“Jules,” he finally asked, feeling, more than hearing, the small yeah she said back, “what is the song you wanted to show me?”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh,” Julie said, moving back a little so she could look him in the eyes, “it’s called Perfect Harmony. Here, take a listen.”</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Step into my world...</em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Please don't come at me because of the ending asdfghjkasçf </p><p>Thank you for reading! Don't be shy and let's talk, leave a comment or come say hi to me on <a href="https://aspeckof-stardust.tumblr.com/">my tumblr</a>!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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